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Topic: NEW COMET SIGHTED (Read 1681 times)

Rotwood

Images from the Hubble Space Telescope have given astrono-mers the first glimpses of a new visitor to our solar system. Apreviously uncharted comet is approaching from outside the orbitof Pluto and may even become visible from Earth within the nextfew years.

"If you thought Hailey's Comet was impressive, this one mightbe even better," says Marjorie Serway, who discovered the object."It's too early to tell much - we're just now starting to pick itup. But a lot of the readings we're getting are heavily into the redscale. We don't know whether that's because the light isrefracting through some sort of cloud between the comet andEarth, or because the comet itself is reflecting red light, like Mars,or even producing its own red light, like the star Sirius. That latterpossibility is quite unlikely, of course. We've never seen agenuinely luminous comet, just reflective ones. But preliminarydata, while sketchy, may indicate that this particular stellar objectis actually combusting."

Serway's Comet is not without its detractors, of course. Dr.Xavier Filho, at the Mount Palomar Observatory, doubts whetherthe object is even a comet at all. "I've seen [Serway's] data, andit's thin. I've seen the images, and they're inconclusive. I thinkwhat we have here is a woman who very much wants her nameon a stellar object and who has too much trust in the Hubbie. Itmay be a comet; it may not be. But if it is, I'm crediting her onlywith some good guesswork. As for the notion that it is luminous-[SEE 'COMET' ON PAGE 8]